March 19, 2023 20 Years for Rehearsing a Play? A young playwright in Tolyatti is threatened with 20 years in jail for rehearsing a play with his students. Art Education Film & TV Theater Russia File
January 24, 2023 Where Are the Actors? The Ministry of Culture began inspecting Moscow theaters after a famous actor made an obliquely anti-war statement in an interview. Culture Dissent Government Theater War Russia File
July 09, 2022 A Theatrical Ousting Moscow is replacing the anti-war directors of the Gogol Center. Art Culture Dissent Moscow Theater Russia File
July 07, 2022 A Failure to Perform The International Platonov Arts Festival in Voronezh, has been canceled due to current political conditions. Art Culture Music Theater Russia File
April 28, 2022 Golden Mask of Support Ksenia Sorokina gives her Golden Mask award to jailed anti-war activist Sasha Skochilenko. Art Military Politics St. Petersburg Theater War Women Russia File
March 27, 2022 Loving the Homeland and Leaving It Too A powerful, deep interview with one of Russia's leading artists and humanitarians, about her decision to leave Russia. Int'l Relations Interview NGOs Theater Women Russia File
February 12, 2022 All the Village Is a Stage Performance art, adventure, and psychedelia in a Russian village. What more could you want? Art Cities & Towns Culture Environment Rural Life Theater Russia File
December 09, 2021 Evil Etsy, Nutcracker Shortages, and Rudolph on His Way In this week's Odder News, Etsy is a threat, a reindeer tries to race a Russian train, and "The Nutcracker" is much harder to see in Russia than in the U.S. Animals Internet Theater Transportation Odder News
July 29, 2021 Chefs, Cockroaches, and Cat Cafes In this week's Odder News: raccoon rescue, low light, and cats, both homeless and elite. Animals Internet St. Petersburg Theater Odder News
June 22, 2020 The Show Must Go On A Russian theater takes to an unusual medium to perform its adaptation of Chekhov's "Cherry Orchard." Internet St. Petersburg Theater Russia File
May 21, 2020 Soccer, Victory Day, and Virtual Culture This week: soccer games return, cultural events go online, and an 11-year-old girl makes us all look like pansies. Children Culture Food & Drink Government Health Holidays Military Science Theater Odder News
March 23, 2020 Performing for Empty Halls: Online Cultural Resources Since many people are stuck at home, cultural activities have to adapt. Art Culture Internet Theater CVSG Russia File
February 28, 2022 to February 23, 2032 Free Russian Language Guided Tours Metropolitan Museum of Art | New York, NY Russian-speaking guides conduct tours of the museum's highlights every Monday at 11 am. Art Exhibit
February 22, 2022 to February 22, 2032 Russian-Language Gallery Tour Brooklyn Museum | Brooklyn, NY Russian-language tour exploring our collection in depth, second Sunday of each month at 1 pm. Free, reservations required Art Exhibit
Murder and the Muse KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Russia Rules From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
Bears in the Caviar Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Jews in Service to the Tsar Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
The Best of Russian Life We culled through 15 years of Russian Life to select readers’ and editors’ favorite stories and biographies for inclusion in a special two-volume collection. Totalling over 1100 pages, these two volumes encompass some of the best writing we have published over the last two decades, and include the most timeless stories and biographies – those that can be read again and again.
301 Things Everyone Should Know About Russia How do you begin to get a handle on the world's largest country? This colorful, illustrated guide will get you started...
The Little Humpbacked Horse A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
The Samovar Murders The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
White Magic The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Woe From Wit (bilingual) One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Steppe / Степь This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Latchkey Murders Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
December 19, 2016 10 Things (And 5 Jokes) You Didn't Know About Brezhnev Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev would have been 110 on December 19. There are plenty of fun facts and surprising jokes behind the eyebrows. History Humor Politics Russia File
November 18, 2016 Famous Americans with Russian Roots America is a land built by immigrants. We researched famous Americans with Russian roots and offer this compilation. History Reference Russians Abroad Russia File
February 24, 2023 Russia's Year of Horror After a year of horrific war, why does a magazine like Russian Life continue? Why not simply wash our hands of it and walk away? Culture History Journalism War Russia File
September 07, 2021 Using Laughter to Cope These eight outstanding Soviet comedies show some of what has made Russians laugh over the past century. Most are still watched today. (First in our new series on learning about Russia through its films.) Culture Through Film Russia File
August 22, 2020 Sad Smiles and Kremlin Corruption Recounting a 2008 meeting with activist Alexei Navalny, before he rose to prominence. Government Politics Russia File
March 07, 2022 Russian Life Takes a Pause As the world reels from the horrific, criminal events being perpetrated in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin, the Russian state, and the Russian military, all of us who nurture a love for Russian people, their culture and history, have been heartbroken. It is not easy to remain a Russophile when suddenly, all across the globe, the adjective “Russian” has become toxic. News Russia File
